Fic: Home, but Not Home 1/1 (Willow/Giles) PG

Title: Home, but Not Home Author: Elisabeth Rating: PG Pairing: Willow/Giles, mentions Willow/Tara Summary: After the battle with Glory, Willow ends up

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Title: Home, but Not Home
Author: Elisabeth
Rating: PG
Pairing: Willow/Giles, mentions Willow/Tara
Summary: After the battle with Glory, Willow ends up somewhere she never would
have imagined.
Timeline: starts during The Gift, goes AU from there
Word Count: 3016
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing
them from Joss et al. Dialog borrowed from the episode "The Gift".
Distribution: my site, my LJ, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else -
just ask.
Feedback: Yes please! It makes me happy and keeps me writing.
Thanks to Gabrielle and KallieRose for looking
this over.
Author's Note: I didn't consult any medical experts, so some liberties may have
been taken to suit the story.

Author's Note 2: Happy 5th Anniversary Hairy
Eyeball!

Willow followed a dozen feet behind Tara, using every ounce
of restraint she had to stop herself from dashing forward and stopping Tara
from joining the rest of the people Glory had brain-sucked. It pained her to
watch her lover so mindlessly helpless, but it would all be over soon.

Tara picked up a brick and continued her blind walk towards the rickety tower.
She stumbled a bit as a hand landed on her shoulder.

"You," Glory fumed, recognizing Tara. "What are you doing
here?"

'Showtime,' Willow thought to herself. Mustering all her courage, she stepped
in front of Glory. "She's with me."

Reaching for her connection to the Earth, Willow placed her hands on Glory and
Tara's heads. Blue lightning flashed around them, all three women screaming as
the spell took effect. Willow focused harder, feeling the magic working, barely
seeing the light passing from Glory to Tara. With a final blast of power, the
three were flung apart and Willow blacked out as she landed on a pile of wood.

Beep... Beep.

There were bright lights on the other side of Willow's closed eyelids. 'Is the
spell still going on?' Willow wondered.

She blinked, briefly catching the sight of a dimpled ceiling, much like the
ones in the hospital. Another blink revealed Giles sitting worriedly beside her
bed.

"Willow?" he called to her, but it was too much effort to open her
eyes again.

Beep... Beep.

Tara recovered first and crawled to Willow's prone body. "Willow?"
she cried, hands hovering over the redhead's body, afraid to touch. Finally,
unable to resist any longer, she reached out and caressed Willow's neck,
relieved to feel a pulse beneath her fingers.

Willow's eyes fluttered open. She breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her
girl and not a hospital.

Her head was fuzzy. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself back in the
hospital room. Wasn't she just with Tara at Glory's Tower of Doom? She must
have hit her head harder than she thought.

Giles returned to her side. "Hello, darling. Welcome back."

Darling? Since when did Giles call her darling? Did he hit his head too?

"What happened?" Willow asked, trying to sit up. She winced as her
belly protested the movement.

Giles leaned forward to brush a kiss against Willow's lips. She was so startled
that she couldn't react.

"The doctor warned me that the drugs might make you a little confused for
a while," Giles said, smiling fondly, running a hand through her hair.

"There were drugs? Why does it hurt to move?"

"I'm afraid there were some complications with the delivery. You passed
out while the doctor was performing an emergency Caesarian." Willow's eyes
bulged, and not for the reason Giles expected. "Don't worry, the baby is
fine." He took a deep breath, pride swelling his chest. "Our son is
just fine."

"Our son?" Willow gasped before fainting.

~~*~~

The next time Willow awoke, she was still in the hospital. Giles was still by
her side, worry once again darkening his features.

"Giles?" Willow whispered, drawing his attention to her.

He smiled fondly at her. "You haven't called me Giles for a long
time."

"Yeah, about that... I don't know if I'm in Kansas anymore."

Giles frowned. "Willow, darling, what's the matter?"

"See, that's just what I'm talking about. What's up with you calling me
darling all the time? And did you say before that we have a son?"

"You're my wife, why wouldn't I call you darling? And yes--"

"Did you say wife?" Willow squeaked.

"Yes, of course. Willow, this really isn't funny."

"I'm not the one pulling legs, mister."

"I-I think I need to find the doctor. Amnesia was not one of the side
effects I was warned about."

"How could I have amnesia? I know what happened. I was restoring Tara's
mind in the battle with Glory when I was knocked out. I woke up here. You're
the one who's delusional."

"Dear Lord," Giles gasped, stumbling back. Regaining his composure,
Giles hurried back to her side, taking Willow's hand in his. "Don't worry,
we'll figure this out. We'll find a way to restore your memories. I promise
you." He brought her hands to his mouth, kissing her knuckles.

"Restore my... What memories are there to restore?" Willow asked, not
understanding why Giles insisted on keeping up this charade.

"Willow, it's been two years since the battle with Glory. We've been
married for the past year, and you just gave birth to our son," Giles
calmly told her.

"B-but, what about Tara?" Willow whispered.

"What about her? I imagine she's at the Magic Box, minding the till,"
Giles said, wondering why Willow would be thinking of the quiet shop girl at a
time like this.

"She's still around? What happened? Did she dump me after the whole Glory
thing?" Willow was near tears now.

Giles looked at her, confused. "Willow, what on earth are you talking
about? Tara's a friend of yours, granted, but the two of you were never, um, involved,
romantically."

Willow began to sob.

When she could breathe again, Willow told a distraught Giles, "I don't
think this is my Sunnydale."

~~*~~

Before Giles could ask her for clarification, there was a knock at the door as
it was pushed open.

"Then what's it about?" Xander asked. "Those look like upset
tears, not happy tears, if I know anything about Willow tears, and I think that
I do."

"I-I'm afraid that Willow is suffering from some memory loss," Giles
awkwardly stated.

"How much memory loss?" Buffy warily asked.

"She thinks it's just after the battle with Glorificus."

"No!" Willow objected, speaking for the first time since her friends
entered the room. "There's no memory loss. I'm pretty sure that this is
some kind of alternate reality."

"Why do you think that?" Giles asked, his tone indicating that he was
humoring her.

"Well, for starters, there's the 'us being married with a baby' thing.
Plus, you said Tara and I were never together. In my world, she's my
everything," Willow explained. She was trying very hard not to cry again.

Xander couldn't help it, he giggled. "You and Tara? Together? As in a
couple?" Willow glared at him. "I mean, don't get me wrong, she's a
sweet girl, but way too mousy for you. If you were into girls, that is. Which
you're not. Are you?"

Wrapping her arm around Xander's waist, Buffy turned his face towards her.
"Yeah, I'm the only one you're allowed to picture naked." She kissed
him lightly on the lips.

Once again, Willow's eyes tried to escape her head. "Okay, now I know I'm
not in my Sunnydale. There is no way you two would ever get together in my
world."

"I don't think I like your world," Xander said, his eyes still on
Buffy.

"Well, I did," Willow sniffled.

"Alright, I think Willow's had enough excitement. Why don't you two come
back later to see the baby? I'm sure Willow would appreciate some more
rest," Giles said, shooing Buffy and Xander out the door.

"Yeah, okay. We'll see you soon, Will," Buffy said.

"Maybe after some sleep you'll feel more like yourself," Xander
added.

"I'll see you guys later," Willow said, relaxing against the pillow.

Giles closed the door behind the couple and then returned to Willow's side.

"You truly believe that you're in some kind of alternate universe?"
Willow nodded. "Then what do you think happened to my wife?"

"I... I don't know," Willow admitted. "Do you think we could
have just switched places? Oh Goddess, what if she wakes up in the middle of
the battle with Glory? And Tara… She won't understand when Tara is all touchy
feely with her. Assuming the spell worked and Tara's herself again."

"Willow, breathe," Giles instructed, squeezing her hand. He watched
her take a deep breath. "Let's try to figure this out. It's what we do,
after all."

"Good. Now, you said you were doing a spell. Can you describe it to
me?"

"It was an energy transfer. Glory had sucked on Tara's brain a few weeks
earlier and I figured out how to restore what she'd taken back to Tara's mind.
I had my hands on both of them and I could feel it working. I could feel the
energy moving from Glory back to Tara. Then I blacked out."

"Hmm..." Giles sat back, taking all of that in. "What of the
portal? Did Glorificus succeed in opening it in your reality?"

"I don't know. She hadn't yet when I was doing the spell, but I don't know
if she succeeded after I blacked out. What happened here?"

Giles thought back. "What you just described also happened here. Tara
works in my magic shop, and Glorificus did feed on her mind. You restored it
during the battle. Buffy fought Glorificus on the ground, but one of her
minions went after the girl they were sacrificing to open the portal."

"Dawn," Willow interjected.

"Yes, I believe that was the girl's name," Giles dispassionately
agreed.

"Hold up. You mean that Dawn wasn't Buffy's sister here?"

"Buffy is an only child, Willow, you know that."

"Yeah, in my world too. But these monks created Dawn so that Buffy would
protect the Key with her life."

"Yes, that would have worked marvelously," Giles mused.

"Yet another difference. Sorry, go on," Willow requested.

"Right. Yes. Um, this demon, Doc, cut Dawn so that she would bleed. By the
time Buffy got to the top of the tower it was too late, the portal was opening.
She unbound Dawn and before Buffy could stop her, Dawn jumped off the tower,
into the portal, closing it."

"Maybe that's when it happened. While I was unconscious, my consciousness
got sucked into the portal and I ended up here. Although, I thought it only
opened hell dimensions. Aside from relationship and time differences, this
world seems pretty normal to me. Buffy's even still the Slayer."

"And with the portal closed, there's no way to send you back. Or to get my
Willow back to me," Giles sadly stated.

"Oh, Giles. I'm so, so sorry. As confusing as this is for me, I keep
forgetting that you lost your wife, and the mother of your child."

He grimaced at the reminder. "I-it is rather hard for me to believe that
this is real," he admitted. "After all, my eyes tell me that you are
her, my Willow, my wife. Aside from your memories, you are her."

"I have a suspicion that you're not so different when
it comes to what matters."

They drifted into a comfortable silence as the severity of
the situation began to sink in.

Eventually, Giles said, "I-if when you wake up, and if
you're still here, would you consider trying to live my Willow's life? My son
will need a mother, and this is the body he was birthed from, after all."

"B-but I don't remember loving you," Willow protested. "Besides,
I just lost someone, too. I was, am, very much in love with Tara."

"And you don't think you ever could love me?" Giles pressed.

"Well, now I didn't say that. There was that crush I had on you in high
school." She smiled fondly at the memories. Sighing, she relaxed into the
pillows. "It's all so much to take in. I'll think about it. After some
sleep. I'm exhausted."

"You've had a busy day. We'll talk more later," Giles promised.

As Willow drifted off to sleep, Giles pressed a kiss to her forehead. "My
love," he whispered against her skin.

~~*~~

Willow was awakened by an apologetic nurse.

"I'm still here," Willow groggily mumbled, looking for Giles.

"Yes, you're still in the hospital," the nurse confirmed. "Your
husband went home to get some sleep, but he said he'd return soon. I'm sure he
would have liked to be here for this, but I'm afraid I couldn't wait any
longer."

"Be here for what?" Willow asked. It was then that she noticed the
bassinet holding a fussy baby beside her bed. Her baby, she supposed, or, at
least the other Willow's baby.

"This little guy is hungry, and it's best to get him started on the breast
as soon as possible. Your chart said you planned on breast feeding,
correct?"

The nurse gently lifted the baby and placed him in Willow's arms. She helped to
lower Willow's gown enough to expose a breast, ignoring Willow's blush.
Instead, Willow tried to focus on the bundle in her arms.

"Hey there, little guy," Willow cooed at the baby. He really was precious,
blinking up at her with the most gorgeous green eyes she'd ever seen.

"Um, what do I do?" Willow asked the nurse. "I've never done
this before."

"Of course you haven't. Bring his mouth to your nipple and brush it
against his lips. With any luck, he'll latch on and nature will take its
course," she instructed.

"And if he doesn't?" Willow worried that the baby would sense that
she wasn't really his mother and he'd reject the nourishment she had to offer.

"Let's worry about that later," the nurse said encouragingly.

Thinking hungry thoughts, Willow shifted the baby until his mouth was against
her breast, doing as the nurse instructed. "C'mon, little guy. I know you
want this." After what felt like ten minutes, that was really more like
ten seconds, the baby caught her nipple between his lips and began to suckle.

"Woah." Willow stared at the baby, completely in awe of the fact that
he was feeding from her. Not to mention how strange her body felt being used
like it was. It was like nothing she'd ever felt before.

Giles knocked softly on the door as he entered and he was stopped in his tracks
by the sight before him. He couldn't remember a time Willow had ever looked
lovelier.

Upon seeing him, the nurse excused herself.

"Willow?" Giles asked, unsure of which Willow he was addressing.

"Yeah, it's me. The other me," Willow quietly acknowledged.

"Are you okay with this?" he asked, torn between wanting to share in
the moment and wanting to give this Willow who wasn't his wife some privacy.

"As you said yesterday, this is the body he was birthed from. It's what he
needed. How could I refuse him?" Willow met Giles' eyes and motioned for
him to join them.

"I'm so relieved to hear you say that. Does that mean that you'll accept
my offer?" he asked, hopefully.

"Yes, I accept. I mean, you can't expect me to fulfill all of your wife's,
um, duties, but I'd like to be a part of this family," Willow admitted.

"Thank you," Giles gushed. He leaned forward to kiss her, before he
could stop himself. "And I was thinking about this last night. Buffy and
Xander already know the truth, but I believe they are the only ones who need to
know. If anyone else notices any differences between us, we can say that it
related to the trauma during the birthing process, but we'll be fine."